The Jawbone Puppet Wondershow—In a theater/instrument contraption, cobbled together from society’s detritus—broken bike parts, rusty tools, outmoded kitchen appliances, bones and discarded dolls—our sad hobo clown janitor and the ten-year-old puppeteer/musician weave together a series of stories based on world history, literature and folktales, all of which touch on man’s inhumanity towards man, and have social justice at their hearts. The janitor wishes he could be happy, but he doesn’t know how. Will he find redemption and hope with the help of the puppets, the little puppeteer, and maybe even the audience? Well, It all depends on what kind of a show you want to see. We can help you choose from over a dozen short pieces to tailor a show to your liking. More hopeful? More historical? More literary? More surreal? All ages? Adult only? It’s up to you! Regardless of what you want, the show is sure to be weird, funny, entertaining, and thought provoking.
Drop us a line, and we’ll help you choose the line-up that’s right for you, wether it’s just one short piece, 30 minutes, 1 or 2 hours, or even choose all of them for an all day long schedule of short shows performed every hour.
SHOWS CURRENTLY TOURING & AVAILABLE FOR BOOKINGS:
All ages:
The Bucket Rider (10 minutes)—based on the short story by Franz
Kafka. A poor man has no coal and is freezing to death. His empty coal
bucket is so light, he can ride on it, so he rides off to seek aid from the
coal dealer.
The Fox Doctor (15 minutes)—based on a Russian folktale, the
story of a poor old man and woman who long for children of their own,
a long climb up a magic bitter melon vine to find spirit babies in heaven,
and a sly fox.
The Turnip (10 minutes)—a mask piece with lots of audience
participation. An old grandpa tries and tries to pull up a turnip. Loads of
fun for all ages!
The Life of San Martín de Porres (10 minutes)—a beautiful
painting, lit from behind portrays moments in the life of the 16th century
mixed race Peruvian saint, as our storyteller tells the inspiring story of his
life & struggles with the hypocrisy and racism of the Church establishment,
and his eventual acceptance and canonization, due to his selflessness and
tireless efforts to help the poor and suffering people of Lima.
The Ring of Destiny (5 minutes)—a short, weird, funny crowd-pleaser. A young couple find a bunny that they love, but a trickster demon transforms it into an annoying duck. The couple tirelessly seek out their beloved bunny. How many times will they dare jump through the Ring of Destiny?
Airplane Man (5 minutes)—short, funny, surreal and violent. Written, designed & directed by the kid. How will airplane man fly a plane with just one wing? A young, determined boy overcomes the taunts of a mean naysayer!
Into The Wood (5 minutes)—2 brothers are warned by their uncle not to go into the dark wood. They should stay home and do their chores. But they venture into the wood and encounter various monsters. Transformed by their journey, can they ever return home again?
Esoteric Toy Dinosaur Theater (10 minutes)—2 short pieces based on black American folktales, retold with plastic dinosaur toys. Part I: Jurassic Justice, Part II: Hunters and Scavengers. Set in the Mesozoic Era, a lot of fun and funny carnivorous dino rending of flesh, but not without loads of wisdom!
A Brief Interlude from the Spanish Conquest of the New World (2 minutes)—performed in English and Spanish. A quick, funny piece touching on the hypocrisy of the religious fervor of the conquest.
Baby News (5 minutes)—the kid puppeteers a weird ugly baby doll, who is the newscaster of the Baby Evening News. But the news gets so boring that he must resort to drastic means.
Adult only:
(“mature content” pieces containing sexual content, strong language, intense themes, or all of the above)
Genesis: Chapter 38 (20 minutes)—Our very own biblical scholar brings to life the story of Onan, the father of pulling out. This funny, dirty bible story is sure to amuse, educate and titillate. Be forewarned: this show contains scenes of extreme wrath of god, insights into early biblical patriarchal lineage, and graphic puppet on puppet sex.
Heroes of American Medicine #36: James Marion Sims, the Father of Modern Gynecology (10 minutes)—James Sims, celebrated as the father of modern gynecology, this patriarchal douchebag has been commemorated with plaques and statues around the country. This show chronicles his systematic torture of black slave women, such as Anarcha, who he operated on over 30 times in 4 years (with no anesthesia!!!) as he developed his celebrated techniques and instruments. The puppetry is beautiful and poetic, while the content is harsh and ugly.
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign! (5 minutes)—Based on the comic strip by the great Johnny Ryan (of Angry Youth Comics fame), this short, funny piece includes disgusting acts with a pile of shit, and a mule dick. Not for the faint of heart.
Sin País (2 minutes)—performeandd in spanish with English subtitles. A short cantastoria based on a song by La Polla Records, the iconic Spanish Punk band. This is about borders and countries, and how they are actually nothing.
List of Shows:
